Albanese says Dutton injecting machismo into election campaign
Anthony Albanese has accused Peter Dutton of alienating mainstream voters by trying to inject machismo into Australian politics, as he warned that Donald Trump's presidency has opened the door for China to exert more influence in the Indo-Pacific.
Albanese gave a wide-ranging interview with the popular The Rest is Politics podcast, hosted by former UK Labour adviser Alastair Campbell and former Tory politician Rory Stewart, in which the prime minister spoke about his childhood, upcoming wedding, favourite musical artists, and views on world affairs.
Albanese recorded the interview on Saturday night, before attending St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney on Sunday morning for Easter Mass, where he sat in the front row and took communion.
He spoke to Sydney Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher about his memories attending the adjoining St Mary's Cathedral College while he was at high school and told him that adrenaline was fuelling him during the election campaign.
'Thirteen days to go, but who is counting? Me,' he said.
Dutton opted for a casual Easter Sunday, as he cooked a breakfast of bacon and egg rolls in Ipswich, Queensland.
The opposition leader greeted supporters and community members and was accompanied by wife Kirilly, their family's spoodle, Ralph, and Carl Mutzelburg, the Liberal National Party candidate for Blair, which covers Ipswich.
'Remember what is important in life, and what is important is family, our friends and our society, our community,' Dutton told supporters.
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The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Average home prices hit $1m with more growth to come
Australia's property market continues to strengthen and gain momentum as the value of the average home soars past the $1 million mark for the first time. The national mean dwelling price reached $1,002,500 in the March quarter, a 0.7 per cent increase from the previous three months, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Tuesday. Figures from the ABS show the total value of the nation's residential dwellings rose by $130.7 billion to a staggering $11.4 trillion. "We're certainly not going to see the massive increases that we saw during COVID, but we do think house prices will continue to increase, particularly as interest rates are predicted to fall further," she told AAP. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, noted that regulation and red tape had made building and buying a home in Australia too hard. Mr Albanese said it was too complex and expensive to get a project off the ground, adding that Housing Minister Clare O'Neil had been tasked with reducing those barriers. "It is too hard and one of the areas is regulation," he told the National Press Club. He also backed a failed NSW project to redevelop Sydney's Rosehill Racecourse, describing the controversial proposal as "absolutely right". The proposal aimed to transform the 140-year-old track into a "mini-city" encompassing about 25,000 homes, but it was ultimately voted down by the racecourse owner's members. "That's the sort of thing that we're going to need to do. You can't deal with supply issues without having the courage to do things like that," Mr Albanese said. "(We) want to make sure that housing is fit for purpose and all of that but if we can cut through on some of the red tape, then that will reduce costs." According to the ABS, the increase in residential dwellings was fuelled by housing markets in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia. While NSW remains Australia's most expensive property market with a median price of $1.25 million, Queensland is not far behind at $944,700. Though prices are rising, further interest rate cuts could slow the pace of increases compared to the same period last year. Data reveals the average price in the ACT went backwards, falling to $941,300, as the Northern Territory maintains the lowest mean price at $517,700. Eliza Owen, head of research at property analyst group Cotality, told AAP it was not a surprise the nation's property market continued to be pushed to record values. "(It comes) off the back of long-term constraint on housing supply, compounded by more recent factors like interest rate reductions, which increase access to finance," she said. Ms Owen noted the interest rate reduction earlier this year helped reinvigorate demand across the housing market on a fairly broad basis. While the average dwelling price has reached seven figures for the first time, Ms Owen said factors such as rate reductions had given markets like Sydney a "sugar hit", rather than triggering a large upswing like the robust growth seen in 2021. Australia's property market continues to strengthen and gain momentum as the value of the average home soars past the $1 million mark for the first time. The national mean dwelling price reached $1,002,500 in the March quarter, a 0.7 per cent increase from the previous three months, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Tuesday. Figures from the ABS show the total value of the nation's residential dwellings rose by $130.7 billion to a staggering $11.4 trillion. "We're certainly not going to see the massive increases that we saw during COVID, but we do think house prices will continue to increase, particularly as interest rates are predicted to fall further," she told AAP. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, noted that regulation and red tape had made building and buying a home in Australia too hard. Mr Albanese said it was too complex and expensive to get a project off the ground, adding that Housing Minister Clare O'Neil had been tasked with reducing those barriers. "It is too hard and one of the areas is regulation," he told the National Press Club. He also backed a failed NSW project to redevelop Sydney's Rosehill Racecourse, describing the controversial proposal as "absolutely right". The proposal aimed to transform the 140-year-old track into a "mini-city" encompassing about 25,000 homes, but it was ultimately voted down by the racecourse owner's members. "That's the sort of thing that we're going to need to do. You can't deal with supply issues without having the courage to do things like that," Mr Albanese said. "(We) want to make sure that housing is fit for purpose and all of that but if we can cut through on some of the red tape, then that will reduce costs." According to the ABS, the increase in residential dwellings was fuelled by housing markets in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia. While NSW remains Australia's most expensive property market with a median price of $1.25 million, Queensland is not far behind at $944,700. Though prices are rising, further interest rate cuts could slow the pace of increases compared to the same period last year. Data reveals the average price in the ACT went backwards, falling to $941,300, as the Northern Territory maintains the lowest mean price at $517,700. Eliza Owen, head of research at property analyst group Cotality, told AAP it was not a surprise the nation's property market continued to be pushed to record values. "(It comes) off the back of long-term constraint on housing supply, compounded by more recent factors like interest rate reductions, which increase access to finance," she said. Ms Owen noted the interest rate reduction earlier this year helped reinvigorate demand across the housing market on a fairly broad basis. While the average dwelling price has reached seven figures for the first time, Ms Owen said factors such as rate reductions had given markets like Sydney a "sugar hit", rather than triggering a large upswing like the robust growth seen in 2021. Australia's property market continues to strengthen and gain momentum as the value of the average home soars past the $1 million mark for the first time. The national mean dwelling price reached $1,002,500 in the March quarter, a 0.7 per cent increase from the previous three months, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Tuesday. Figures from the ABS show the total value of the nation's residential dwellings rose by $130.7 billion to a staggering $11.4 trillion. "We're certainly not going to see the massive increases that we saw during COVID, but we do think house prices will continue to increase, particularly as interest rates are predicted to fall further," she told AAP. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, noted that regulation and red tape had made building and buying a home in Australia too hard. Mr Albanese said it was too complex and expensive to get a project off the ground, adding that Housing Minister Clare O'Neil had been tasked with reducing those barriers. "It is too hard and one of the areas is regulation," he told the National Press Club. He also backed a failed NSW project to redevelop Sydney's Rosehill Racecourse, describing the controversial proposal as "absolutely right". The proposal aimed to transform the 140-year-old track into a "mini-city" encompassing about 25,000 homes, but it was ultimately voted down by the racecourse owner's members. "That's the sort of thing that we're going to need to do. You can't deal with supply issues without having the courage to do things like that," Mr Albanese said. "(We) want to make sure that housing is fit for purpose and all of that but if we can cut through on some of the red tape, then that will reduce costs." According to the ABS, the increase in residential dwellings was fuelled by housing markets in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia. While NSW remains Australia's most expensive property market with a median price of $1.25 million, Queensland is not far behind at $944,700. Though prices are rising, further interest rate cuts could slow the pace of increases compared to the same period last year. Data reveals the average price in the ACT went backwards, falling to $941,300, as the Northern Territory maintains the lowest mean price at $517,700. Eliza Owen, head of research at property analyst group Cotality, told AAP it was not a surprise the nation's property market continued to be pushed to record values. "(It comes) off the back of long-term constraint on housing supply, compounded by more recent factors like interest rate reductions, which increase access to finance," she said. Ms Owen noted the interest rate reduction earlier this year helped reinvigorate demand across the housing market on a fairly broad basis. While the average dwelling price has reached seven figures for the first time, Ms Owen said factors such as rate reductions had given markets like Sydney a "sugar hit", rather than triggering a large upswing like the robust growth seen in 2021. Australia's property market continues to strengthen and gain momentum as the value of the average home soars past the $1 million mark for the first time. The national mean dwelling price reached $1,002,500 in the March quarter, a 0.7 per cent increase from the previous three months, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Tuesday. Figures from the ABS show the total value of the nation's residential dwellings rose by $130.7 billion to a staggering $11.4 trillion. "We're certainly not going to see the massive increases that we saw during COVID, but we do think house prices will continue to increase, particularly as interest rates are predicted to fall further," she told AAP. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, noted that regulation and red tape had made building and buying a home in Australia too hard. Mr Albanese said it was too complex and expensive to get a project off the ground, adding that Housing Minister Clare O'Neil had been tasked with reducing those barriers. "It is too hard and one of the areas is regulation," he told the National Press Club. He also backed a failed NSW project to redevelop Sydney's Rosehill Racecourse, describing the controversial proposal as "absolutely right". The proposal aimed to transform the 140-year-old track into a "mini-city" encompassing about 25,000 homes, but it was ultimately voted down by the racecourse owner's members. "That's the sort of thing that we're going to need to do. You can't deal with supply issues without having the courage to do things like that," Mr Albanese said. "(We) want to make sure that housing is fit for purpose and all of that but if we can cut through on some of the red tape, then that will reduce costs." According to the ABS, the increase in residential dwellings was fuelled by housing markets in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia. While NSW remains Australia's most expensive property market with a median price of $1.25 million, Queensland is not far behind at $944,700. Though prices are rising, further interest rate cuts could slow the pace of increases compared to the same period last year. Data reveals the average price in the ACT went backwards, falling to $941,300, as the Northern Territory maintains the lowest mean price at $517,700. Eliza Owen, head of research at property analyst group Cotality, told AAP it was not a surprise the nation's property market continued to be pushed to record values. "(It comes) off the back of long-term constraint on housing supply, compounded by more recent factors like interest rate reductions, which increase access to finance," she said. Ms Owen noted the interest rate reduction earlier this year helped reinvigorate demand across the housing market on a fairly broad basis. While the average dwelling price has reached seven figures for the first time, Ms Owen said factors such as rate reductions had given markets like Sydney a "sugar hit", rather than triggering a large upswing like the robust growth seen in 2021.
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Economic summit aims to firm up drooping productivity
An economic summit on lifting lagging productivity rates can serve common interests for the business sector and unions, the prime minister says. Anthony Albanese has announced plans for a productivity roundtable in August in Canberra to shape the nation's economic growth. Experts have expressed concern about Australia's lagging rate of productivity, a key economic measure of efficiency and long-term driver of improved living standards. Despite criticism previous economic summits were too slanted towards unions, Mr Albanese said outcomes from the roundtable had not been decided. He called for a mature discussion from all parties, noting it was in everyone's interest for productivity to improve. "We're a Labor government, we support unions existing ... but we will always respect both the role of business and the role of unions," he told the National Press Club on Tuesday. "There are common interests ... you don't get union members unless you've got successful employers. "It's the private sector that drives an economy. What the public sector should do is facilitate private sector activity and private sector investment." The Productivity Commissioner's most recent report showed labour productivity fell 0.1 per cent in the December quarter and dropped 1.2 per cent in the past year. The Business Council of Australia says productivity growth over the past decade has been the lowest in 60 years. Council chief executive Bran Black welcomed the roundtable, saying "lifting business investment is essential to boosting productivity, lifting real wages, creating jobs and ensuring more opportunity for more Australians". "We will continue to be very clear about policies that the business community believes will be counterproductive to improving productivity," he said. Mr Albanese said he wanted a boost to productivity, alongside other economic indicators as part of his second-term agenda. "We want to build an economy where growth, wages and productivity rise together," he said. "The starting point for our government is clear. Our plan for economic growth and productivity is about Australians earning more and keeping more of what they earn." ACTU secretary Sally McManus said working Australians must be at the centre of the roundtable. "We need to leave behind the idea that productivity is equated with cutting pay and making people work harder for less," she said. "We have a common interest in addressing the challenges we face and when we work together our country is at its best." Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar said boosting productivity was essential for economic growth. "The business community looks forward to participating in the summit and contributing constructive and sensible ideas to address the problem," he said. Shadow treasurer Ted O'Brien said the roundtable could amount to nothing but a talkfest. "Anthony Albanese has actively sought to undermine productivity by abolishing structures to drive it," he said. "He also saddled the economy with thousands of new regulations in the last parliament. "If this change of heart by Labor is true, it will be akin to turning around the Titanic." The prime minister announced Jenny Wilkinson would become the first female Treasury secretary. Ms Wilkinson, who heads the Department of Finance, will replace Steven Kennedy, who will become the nation's most senior public servant as head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. They will begin their new roles on Monday for five-year terms. An economic summit on lifting lagging productivity rates can serve common interests for the business sector and unions, the prime minister says. Anthony Albanese has announced plans for a productivity roundtable in August in Canberra to shape the nation's economic growth. Experts have expressed concern about Australia's lagging rate of productivity, a key economic measure of efficiency and long-term driver of improved living standards. Despite criticism previous economic summits were too slanted towards unions, Mr Albanese said outcomes from the roundtable had not been decided. He called for a mature discussion from all parties, noting it was in everyone's interest for productivity to improve. "We're a Labor government, we support unions existing ... but we will always respect both the role of business and the role of unions," he told the National Press Club on Tuesday. "There are common interests ... you don't get union members unless you've got successful employers. "It's the private sector that drives an economy. What the public sector should do is facilitate private sector activity and private sector investment." The Productivity Commissioner's most recent report showed labour productivity fell 0.1 per cent in the December quarter and dropped 1.2 per cent in the past year. The Business Council of Australia says productivity growth over the past decade has been the lowest in 60 years. Council chief executive Bran Black welcomed the roundtable, saying "lifting business investment is essential to boosting productivity, lifting real wages, creating jobs and ensuring more opportunity for more Australians". "We will continue to be very clear about policies that the business community believes will be counterproductive to improving productivity," he said. Mr Albanese said he wanted a boost to productivity, alongside other economic indicators as part of his second-term agenda. "We want to build an economy where growth, wages and productivity rise together," he said. "The starting point for our government is clear. Our plan for economic growth and productivity is about Australians earning more and keeping more of what they earn." ACTU secretary Sally McManus said working Australians must be at the centre of the roundtable. "We need to leave behind the idea that productivity is equated with cutting pay and making people work harder for less," she said. "We have a common interest in addressing the challenges we face and when we work together our country is at its best." Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar said boosting productivity was essential for economic growth. "The business community looks forward to participating in the summit and contributing constructive and sensible ideas to address the problem," he said. Shadow treasurer Ted O'Brien said the roundtable could amount to nothing but a talkfest. "Anthony Albanese has actively sought to undermine productivity by abolishing structures to drive it," he said. "He also saddled the economy with thousands of new regulations in the last parliament. "If this change of heart by Labor is true, it will be akin to turning around the Titanic." The prime minister announced Jenny Wilkinson would become the first female Treasury secretary. Ms Wilkinson, who heads the Department of Finance, will replace Steven Kennedy, who will become the nation's most senior public servant as head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. They will begin their new roles on Monday for five-year terms. An economic summit on lifting lagging productivity rates can serve common interests for the business sector and unions, the prime minister says. Anthony Albanese has announced plans for a productivity roundtable in August in Canberra to shape the nation's economic growth. Experts have expressed concern about Australia's lagging rate of productivity, a key economic measure of efficiency and long-term driver of improved living standards. Despite criticism previous economic summits were too slanted towards unions, Mr Albanese said outcomes from the roundtable had not been decided. He called for a mature discussion from all parties, noting it was in everyone's interest for productivity to improve. "We're a Labor government, we support unions existing ... but we will always respect both the role of business and the role of unions," he told the National Press Club on Tuesday. "There are common interests ... you don't get union members unless you've got successful employers. "It's the private sector that drives an economy. What the public sector should do is facilitate private sector activity and private sector investment." The Productivity Commissioner's most recent report showed labour productivity fell 0.1 per cent in the December quarter and dropped 1.2 per cent in the past year. The Business Council of Australia says productivity growth over the past decade has been the lowest in 60 years. Council chief executive Bran Black welcomed the roundtable, saying "lifting business investment is essential to boosting productivity, lifting real wages, creating jobs and ensuring more opportunity for more Australians". "We will continue to be very clear about policies that the business community believes will be counterproductive to improving productivity," he said. Mr Albanese said he wanted a boost to productivity, alongside other economic indicators as part of his second-term agenda. "We want to build an economy where growth, wages and productivity rise together," he said. "The starting point for our government is clear. Our plan for economic growth and productivity is about Australians earning more and keeping more of what they earn." ACTU secretary Sally McManus said working Australians must be at the centre of the roundtable. "We need to leave behind the idea that productivity is equated with cutting pay and making people work harder for less," she said. "We have a common interest in addressing the challenges we face and when we work together our country is at its best." Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar said boosting productivity was essential for economic growth. "The business community looks forward to participating in the summit and contributing constructive and sensible ideas to address the problem," he said. Shadow treasurer Ted O'Brien said the roundtable could amount to nothing but a talkfest. "Anthony Albanese has actively sought to undermine productivity by abolishing structures to drive it," he said. "He also saddled the economy with thousands of new regulations in the last parliament. "If this change of heart by Labor is true, it will be akin to turning around the Titanic." The prime minister announced Jenny Wilkinson would become the first female Treasury secretary. Ms Wilkinson, who heads the Department of Finance, will replace Steven Kennedy, who will become the nation's most senior public servant as head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. They will begin their new roles on Monday for five-year terms. An economic summit on lifting lagging productivity rates can serve common interests for the business sector and unions, the prime minister says. Anthony Albanese has announced plans for a productivity roundtable in August in Canberra to shape the nation's economic growth. Experts have expressed concern about Australia's lagging rate of productivity, a key economic measure of efficiency and long-term driver of improved living standards. Despite criticism previous economic summits were too slanted towards unions, Mr Albanese said outcomes from the roundtable had not been decided. He called for a mature discussion from all parties, noting it was in everyone's interest for productivity to improve. "We're a Labor government, we support unions existing ... but we will always respect both the role of business and the role of unions," he told the National Press Club on Tuesday. "There are common interests ... you don't get union members unless you've got successful employers. "It's the private sector that drives an economy. What the public sector should do is facilitate private sector activity and private sector investment." The Productivity Commissioner's most recent report showed labour productivity fell 0.1 per cent in the December quarter and dropped 1.2 per cent in the past year. The Business Council of Australia says productivity growth over the past decade has been the lowest in 60 years. Council chief executive Bran Black welcomed the roundtable, saying "lifting business investment is essential to boosting productivity, lifting real wages, creating jobs and ensuring more opportunity for more Australians". "We will continue to be very clear about policies that the business community believes will be counterproductive to improving productivity," he said. Mr Albanese said he wanted a boost to productivity, alongside other economic indicators as part of his second-term agenda. "We want to build an economy where growth, wages and productivity rise together," he said. "The starting point for our government is clear. Our plan for economic growth and productivity is about Australians earning more and keeping more of what they earn." ACTU secretary Sally McManus said working Australians must be at the centre of the roundtable. "We need to leave behind the idea that productivity is equated with cutting pay and making people work harder for less," she said. "We have a common interest in addressing the challenges we face and when we work together our country is at its best." Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar said boosting productivity was essential for economic growth. "The business community looks forward to participating in the summit and contributing constructive and sensible ideas to address the problem," he said. Shadow treasurer Ted O'Brien said the roundtable could amount to nothing but a talkfest. "Anthony Albanese has actively sought to undermine productivity by abolishing structures to drive it," he said. "He also saddled the economy with thousands of new regulations in the last parliament. "If this change of heart by Labor is true, it will be akin to turning around the Titanic." The prime minister announced Jenny Wilkinson would become the first female Treasury secretary. Ms Wilkinson, who heads the Department of Finance, will replace Steven Kennedy, who will become the nation's most senior public servant as head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. They will begin their new roles on Monday for five-year terms.
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Trump has long speculated about using force against his own people. Now he has the pretext to do so
"You just [expletive] shot the reporter!" Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was in the middle of a live cross, covering the protests against the Trump administration's mass deportation policy in Los Angeles, California. As Tomasi spoke to the camera, microphone in hand, an LAPD officer in the background appeared to target her directly, hitting her in the leg with a rubber bullet. Earlier, reports emerged that British photojournalist Nick Stern was undergoing emergency surgery after also being hit by the same "non-lethal" ammunition. The situation in Los Angeles is extremely volatile. After nonviolent protests against raids and arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began in the suburb of Paramount, US President Donald Trump issued a memo describing them as "a form of rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States". He then deployed the National Guard. As much of the coverage has noted, this is not the first time the National Guard has been deployed to quell protests in the US. In 1970, members of the National Guard shot and killed four students protesting the war in Vietnam at Kent State University. In 1992, the National Guard was deployed during protests in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four police officers (three of whom were white) in the severe beating of a Black man, Rodney King. Trump has long speculated about violently deploying the National Guard and even the military against his own people. During his first administration, at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, former Secretary of Defence Mark Esper alleged that Trump asked him, "Can't you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?" Trump has also long sought to other those opposed to his radical agenda to reshape the United States and its role in the world. He's classified them as "un-American" and, therefore, deserving of contempt and, when he deems it necessary, violent oppression. During last year's election campaign, he promised to "root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country". Even the Washington Post characterised this description of Trump's "political enemies" as "echoing Hitler, Mussolini". In addition, Trump has long peddled baseless conspiracies about "sanctuary cities", such as Los Angeles. He has characterised them as lawless havens for his political enemies and places that have been "invaded" by immigrants. As anyone who has ever visited these places knows, that is not true. It is no surprise that in the same places Trump characterises as "disgracing our country", there has been staunch opposition to his agenda and ideology. That opposition has coalesced in recent weeks around the activities of ICE agents, in particular. These agents, wearing masks to conceal their identities, have been arbitrarily detaining people, including US citizens and children, and disappearing people off the streets. They have also arrested caregivers, leaving children alone. As Adam Serwer wrote in The Atlantic during the first iteration of Trump in America, "the cruelty is the point". The Trump administration's mass deportation program is deliberately cruel and provocative. It was always only a matter of time before protests broke out. In a democracy, nonviolent protest by hundreds or perhaps a few thousand people in a city of 10 million is not a crisis. But it has always suited Trump and the movement that supports him to manufacture crises. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a key architect of the mass deportations program and a man described by a former adviser as "Waffen SS", called the protests "an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States". Trump himself also described protesters as "violent, insurrectionist mobs". Nowhere does the presidential memo deploying the National Guard name the specific location of the protests. This, and the extreme language coming out of the administration, suggests it is laying the groundwork for further escalation. The administration could be leaving space to deploy the National Guard in other places and invoke the Insurrection Act. Incidents involving the deployment of the National Guard are rare, though politically cataclysmic. It is rarer still for the National Guard to be deployed against the wishes of a democratically elected leader of a state, as Trump has done in California. This deployment comes at a time of crisis for US democracy more broadly. Trump's longstanding attacks against independent media - what he describes as "fake news" - are escalating. There is a reason that during the current protests, a law enforcement officer appeared so comfortable targeting a journalist, on camera. The Trump administration is also actively targeting independent institutions such as Harvard and Columbia universities. It is also targeting and undermining judges and reducing the power of independent courts to enforce the rule of law. Under Trump, the federal government and its state-based allies are targeting and undermining the rights of minority groups - policing the bodies of trans people, targeting reproductive rights, and beginning the process of undoing the Civil Rights Act. Trump is, for the moment, unconstrained. Asked overnight what the bar is for deploying the Marines against protesters, Trump responded: "the bar is what I think it is". As New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie recently observed:" We should treat Trump and his openly authoritarian administration as a failure, not just of our party system or our legal system, but of our Constitution and its ability to meaningfully constrain a destructive and system-threatening force in our political life." While the situation in Los Angeles is unpredictable, it must be understood in the broader context of the active, violent threat the Trump administration poses to the US. As we watch, American democracy teeters on the brink. This article was updated on June 9, 2025 to correct information about Rodney King. "You just [expletive] shot the reporter!" Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was in the middle of a live cross, covering the protests against the Trump administration's mass deportation policy in Los Angeles, California. As Tomasi spoke to the camera, microphone in hand, an LAPD officer in the background appeared to target her directly, hitting her in the leg with a rubber bullet. Earlier, reports emerged that British photojournalist Nick Stern was undergoing emergency surgery after also being hit by the same "non-lethal" ammunition. The situation in Los Angeles is extremely volatile. After nonviolent protests against raids and arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began in the suburb of Paramount, US President Donald Trump issued a memo describing them as "a form of rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States". He then deployed the National Guard. As much of the coverage has noted, this is not the first time the National Guard has been deployed to quell protests in the US. In 1970, members of the National Guard shot and killed four students protesting the war in Vietnam at Kent State University. In 1992, the National Guard was deployed during protests in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four police officers (three of whom were white) in the severe beating of a Black man, Rodney King. Trump has long speculated about violently deploying the National Guard and even the military against his own people. During his first administration, at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, former Secretary of Defence Mark Esper alleged that Trump asked him, "Can't you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?" Trump has also long sought to other those opposed to his radical agenda to reshape the United States and its role in the world. He's classified them as "un-American" and, therefore, deserving of contempt and, when he deems it necessary, violent oppression. During last year's election campaign, he promised to "root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country". Even the Washington Post characterised this description of Trump's "political enemies" as "echoing Hitler, Mussolini". In addition, Trump has long peddled baseless conspiracies about "sanctuary cities", such as Los Angeles. He has characterised them as lawless havens for his political enemies and places that have been "invaded" by immigrants. As anyone who has ever visited these places knows, that is not true. It is no surprise that in the same places Trump characterises as "disgracing our country", there has been staunch opposition to his agenda and ideology. That opposition has coalesced in recent weeks around the activities of ICE agents, in particular. These agents, wearing masks to conceal their identities, have been arbitrarily detaining people, including US citizens and children, and disappearing people off the streets. They have also arrested caregivers, leaving children alone. As Adam Serwer wrote in The Atlantic during the first iteration of Trump in America, "the cruelty is the point". The Trump administration's mass deportation program is deliberately cruel and provocative. It was always only a matter of time before protests broke out. In a democracy, nonviolent protest by hundreds or perhaps a few thousand people in a city of 10 million is not a crisis. But it has always suited Trump and the movement that supports him to manufacture crises. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a key architect of the mass deportations program and a man described by a former adviser as "Waffen SS", called the protests "an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States". Trump himself also described protesters as "violent, insurrectionist mobs". Nowhere does the presidential memo deploying the National Guard name the specific location of the protests. This, and the extreme language coming out of the administration, suggests it is laying the groundwork for further escalation. The administration could be leaving space to deploy the National Guard in other places and invoke the Insurrection Act. Incidents involving the deployment of the National Guard are rare, though politically cataclysmic. It is rarer still for the National Guard to be deployed against the wishes of a democratically elected leader of a state, as Trump has done in California. This deployment comes at a time of crisis for US democracy more broadly. Trump's longstanding attacks against independent media - what he describes as "fake news" - are escalating. There is a reason that during the current protests, a law enforcement officer appeared so comfortable targeting a journalist, on camera. The Trump administration is also actively targeting independent institutions such as Harvard and Columbia universities. It is also targeting and undermining judges and reducing the power of independent courts to enforce the rule of law. Under Trump, the federal government and its state-based allies are targeting and undermining the rights of minority groups - policing the bodies of trans people, targeting reproductive rights, and beginning the process of undoing the Civil Rights Act. Trump is, for the moment, unconstrained. Asked overnight what the bar is for deploying the Marines against protesters, Trump responded: "the bar is what I think it is". As New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie recently observed:" We should treat Trump and his openly authoritarian administration as a failure, not just of our party system or our legal system, but of our Constitution and its ability to meaningfully constrain a destructive and system-threatening force in our political life." While the situation in Los Angeles is unpredictable, it must be understood in the broader context of the active, violent threat the Trump administration poses to the US. As we watch, American democracy teeters on the brink. This article was updated on June 9, 2025 to correct information about Rodney King. "You just [expletive] shot the reporter!" Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was in the middle of a live cross, covering the protests against the Trump administration's mass deportation policy in Los Angeles, California. As Tomasi spoke to the camera, microphone in hand, an LAPD officer in the background appeared to target her directly, hitting her in the leg with a rubber bullet. Earlier, reports emerged that British photojournalist Nick Stern was undergoing emergency surgery after also being hit by the same "non-lethal" ammunition. The situation in Los Angeles is extremely volatile. After nonviolent protests against raids and arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began in the suburb of Paramount, US President Donald Trump issued a memo describing them as "a form of rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States". He then deployed the National Guard. As much of the coverage has noted, this is not the first time the National Guard has been deployed to quell protests in the US. In 1970, members of the National Guard shot and killed four students protesting the war in Vietnam at Kent State University. In 1992, the National Guard was deployed during protests in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four police officers (three of whom were white) in the severe beating of a Black man, Rodney King. Trump has long speculated about violently deploying the National Guard and even the military against his own people. During his first administration, at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, former Secretary of Defence Mark Esper alleged that Trump asked him, "Can't you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?" Trump has also long sought to other those opposed to his radical agenda to reshape the United States and its role in the world. He's classified them as "un-American" and, therefore, deserving of contempt and, when he deems it necessary, violent oppression. During last year's election campaign, he promised to "root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country". Even the Washington Post characterised this description of Trump's "political enemies" as "echoing Hitler, Mussolini". In addition, Trump has long peddled baseless conspiracies about "sanctuary cities", such as Los Angeles. He has characterised them as lawless havens for his political enemies and places that have been "invaded" by immigrants. As anyone who has ever visited these places knows, that is not true. It is no surprise that in the same places Trump characterises as "disgracing our country", there has been staunch opposition to his agenda and ideology. That opposition has coalesced in recent weeks around the activities of ICE agents, in particular. These agents, wearing masks to conceal their identities, have been arbitrarily detaining people, including US citizens and children, and disappearing people off the streets. They have also arrested caregivers, leaving children alone. As Adam Serwer wrote in The Atlantic during the first iteration of Trump in America, "the cruelty is the point". The Trump administration's mass deportation program is deliberately cruel and provocative. It was always only a matter of time before protests broke out. In a democracy, nonviolent protest by hundreds or perhaps a few thousand people in a city of 10 million is not a crisis. But it has always suited Trump and the movement that supports him to manufacture crises. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a key architect of the mass deportations program and a man described by a former adviser as "Waffen SS", called the protests "an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States". Trump himself also described protesters as "violent, insurrectionist mobs". Nowhere does the presidential memo deploying the National Guard name the specific location of the protests. This, and the extreme language coming out of the administration, suggests it is laying the groundwork for further escalation. The administration could be leaving space to deploy the National Guard in other places and invoke the Insurrection Act. Incidents involving the deployment of the National Guard are rare, though politically cataclysmic. It is rarer still for the National Guard to be deployed against the wishes of a democratically elected leader of a state, as Trump has done in California. This deployment comes at a time of crisis for US democracy more broadly. Trump's longstanding attacks against independent media - what he describes as "fake news" - are escalating. There is a reason that during the current protests, a law enforcement officer appeared so comfortable targeting a journalist, on camera. The Trump administration is also actively targeting independent institutions such as Harvard and Columbia universities. It is also targeting and undermining judges and reducing the power of independent courts to enforce the rule of law. Under Trump, the federal government and its state-based allies are targeting and undermining the rights of minority groups - policing the bodies of trans people, targeting reproductive rights, and beginning the process of undoing the Civil Rights Act. Trump is, for the moment, unconstrained. Asked overnight what the bar is for deploying the Marines against protesters, Trump responded: "the bar is what I think it is". As New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie recently observed:" We should treat Trump and his openly authoritarian administration as a failure, not just of our party system or our legal system, but of our Constitution and its ability to meaningfully constrain a destructive and system-threatening force in our political life." While the situation in Los Angeles is unpredictable, it must be understood in the broader context of the active, violent threat the Trump administration poses to the US. As we watch, American democracy teeters on the brink. This article was updated on June 9, 2025 to correct information about Rodney King. "You just [expletive] shot the reporter!" Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was in the middle of a live cross, covering the protests against the Trump administration's mass deportation policy in Los Angeles, California. As Tomasi spoke to the camera, microphone in hand, an LAPD officer in the background appeared to target her directly, hitting her in the leg with a rubber bullet. Earlier, reports emerged that British photojournalist Nick Stern was undergoing emergency surgery after also being hit by the same "non-lethal" ammunition. The situation in Los Angeles is extremely volatile. After nonviolent protests against raids and arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began in the suburb of Paramount, US President Donald Trump issued a memo describing them as "a form of rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States". He then deployed the National Guard. As much of the coverage has noted, this is not the first time the National Guard has been deployed to quell protests in the US. In 1970, members of the National Guard shot and killed four students protesting the war in Vietnam at Kent State University. In 1992, the National Guard was deployed during protests in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four police officers (three of whom were white) in the severe beating of a Black man, Rodney King. Trump has long speculated about violently deploying the National Guard and even the military against his own people. During his first administration, at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, former Secretary of Defence Mark Esper alleged that Trump asked him, "Can't you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?" Trump has also long sought to other those opposed to his radical agenda to reshape the United States and its role in the world. He's classified them as "un-American" and, therefore, deserving of contempt and, when he deems it necessary, violent oppression. During last year's election campaign, he promised to "root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country". Even the Washington Post characterised this description of Trump's "political enemies" as "echoing Hitler, Mussolini". In addition, Trump has long peddled baseless conspiracies about "sanctuary cities", such as Los Angeles. He has characterised them as lawless havens for his political enemies and places that have been "invaded" by immigrants. As anyone who has ever visited these places knows, that is not true. It is no surprise that in the same places Trump characterises as "disgracing our country", there has been staunch opposition to his agenda and ideology. That opposition has coalesced in recent weeks around the activities of ICE agents, in particular. These agents, wearing masks to conceal their identities, have been arbitrarily detaining people, including US citizens and children, and disappearing people off the streets. They have also arrested caregivers, leaving children alone. As Adam Serwer wrote in The Atlantic during the first iteration of Trump in America, "the cruelty is the point". The Trump administration's mass deportation program is deliberately cruel and provocative. It was always only a matter of time before protests broke out. In a democracy, nonviolent protest by hundreds or perhaps a few thousand people in a city of 10 million is not a crisis. But it has always suited Trump and the movement that supports him to manufacture crises. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a key architect of the mass deportations program and a man described by a former adviser as "Waffen SS", called the protests "an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States". Trump himself also described protesters as "violent, insurrectionist mobs". Nowhere does the presidential memo deploying the National Guard name the specific location of the protests. This, and the extreme language coming out of the administration, suggests it is laying the groundwork for further escalation. The administration could be leaving space to deploy the National Guard in other places and invoke the Insurrection Act. Incidents involving the deployment of the National Guard are rare, though politically cataclysmic. It is rarer still for the National Guard to be deployed against the wishes of a democratically elected leader of a state, as Trump has done in California. This deployment comes at a time of crisis for US democracy more broadly. Trump's longstanding attacks against independent media - what he describes as "fake news" - are escalating. There is a reason that during the current protests, a law enforcement officer appeared so comfortable targeting a journalist, on camera. The Trump administration is also actively targeting independent institutions such as Harvard and Columbia universities. It is also targeting and undermining judges and reducing the power of independent courts to enforce the rule of law. Under Trump, the federal government and its state-based allies are targeting and undermining the rights of minority groups - policing the bodies of trans people, targeting reproductive rights, and beginning the process of undoing the Civil Rights Act. Trump is, for the moment, unconstrained. Asked overnight what the bar is for deploying the Marines against protesters, Trump responded: "the bar is what I think it is". As New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie recently observed:" We should treat Trump and his openly authoritarian administration as a failure, not just of our party system or our legal system, but of our Constitution and its ability to meaningfully constrain a destructive and system-threatening force in our political life." While the situation in Los Angeles is unpredictable, it must be understood in the broader context of the active, violent threat the Trump administration poses to the US. As we watch, American democracy teeters on the brink. This article was updated on June 9, 2025 to correct information about Rodney King.
